Mockingbird
by OpalescentTear
Summary: Year:2114. Earth is in a state of ruins. CHAPTER FOUR! Some disturbing events occur as Dib tries to make his escape off the ship. Zim painfully disciplines his soldiers, triggering some dire consequences. Lots of plot twists!
1. questioning

A/N: Hello! This is my first story, and I'm hoping it'll be a successful one (PLEASE REVIEW, I NEED THE SUPPORT!). This idea has been teasing my headmeats for a long time, but I couldn't really find a storyline. Now, I have! You should see all the little pieces of paper I have scattered around my room with different scenes for this story. It was originally entitled 'The High Invader', but I didn't like the way I had written it, so I took it of ff.net and re-did it.   
  
What I like about this is that I didn't make anyone a real bad guy. Both of the main characters are a bad guy or a good guy at some point in the reading (though it may not seem that way in just this first chapter), so read on.  
  
The title doesn't make sense now, but it's significance will become apparent over time. I was gonna post this in looooong chapters, but I decided to post it in short or medium sized chapters to increase the amount of cliff hangers I can throw upon you all! ::insert evil laugh here::. This will probably be the longest chapter.  
  
MANY THANKS to my beta reader, Amethyst Soul. Without her, this fic would be really disgusting, I'm serious. She's coaching me in the ways of the Invader Zim fan fic world ^^. Check out some of her fan fics, wontcha?  
Read and enjoy!  
  
---  
  


**Mockingbird**  


  
The soft winter rain fell down upon the desolate land. Small, withered shrubs and broken buildings lay upon the ground as far as the eye could see. Countless pieces of rusted wire poked out from the chunks of cement that were once apartments and stores. A brick would occasionally fall from a hill of garbage to the ash-covered surface below, creating a cloud of dust upon its arrival.  
This was what had become of the city.   
Out in what used to be the suburbs, a few solitary homes lay damaged beyond repair yet still remained standing. The few brave, lucky souls that had survived the horrible tragedy still dwelled there, scrounging for all that was useful, becoming the very rats that they had looked down upon when they were the high and mighty human race.  
The sky was dark and surreal. More clouds began to roll in, filled with rain. It was as if the heavens were attempting to wash away the grief and sorrow of past events; yet the pain, misery, and loss only seemed to grow, as if as if every cold, hard drop of water was acid.  
  
A small, obscure green house stood at the end of a cul-de-sac. It was untouched by the force that destroyed all else, but stood decaying with age. The garden gnomes still stood erect on the brown patches of grass. A white, tattered flag with the words 'I love Earth' hung on it's pole, pitifully attempting to wave with the wind.  
A tall, thin, nineteen year old boy stood outside of this house, brown eyes narrowed behind glasses held together with layers upon layers of masking tape. A hatred emanated from his thin body. With every breath small clouds of steam came from his mouth. The tails of his black trenchcoat fluttered in the wind. Hands balled into tight fists at his side, knuckles white, he glared at the construction before him.   
This was the house that started it all. The house of horrors, of rage, of passion; the house that once held the now most feared figure on all of Earth. It held bad memories for the boy, memories more personal than for all the rest, even more than for the life form that had once inhabited it.  
  
Dib felt a hard tug at his coat, abruptly taking him away from his childhood. He turned to glare at the intruder, but his pallid face softened when he found it was his sister.  
"Dib, let's get away from this house," she said, her tone indicating a strange sense of urgency.  
He gave a nod of acknowledgment.   
Gaz, with the promise of the departure from the haunted street, relaxed. Her heavily lidded, half-shut eyes portrayed a sense of deep torment that disturbed Dib deep inside. He shuddered and shook the feeling off, playfully tousling her hair, which was damp from the rain. She pulled away in disgust at his 'mushy' action. He smiled at this small comfort, this one thing unchanged by time. There was still a part of the old Gaz there.  
She turned and began to walk down the abandoned street towards their home, Dib close behind. They had both grown over the long years, physically, mentally, and in maturity.  
Dib spotted a few people rustling through the tons of debris, searching for anything of use. He felt pity for them and was thankful that his family recieved monthly staples from the government. It wasn't much, but enough to keep them from becoming 'trash-diggers' as the people who did so were now called.  
  
The prominent shade of the neighborhood, which had once been so full of vibrant colors, was now gray. An occasional spot of green grass would appear, only to wilt with the dust-filled air and lack of sunlight. There were always clouds in the sky now, because the High Invader wanted it to be so. Cities that were attempted to be rebuilt were destroyed immediately, because he despised human achievement. His every whim and fancy was begun, then constructed in the blink of an eye ... for he was the High Invader.  
He was a plague, taking over the planet. Each ground he set eye or foot upon was gone with a single word uttered from his mouth. Any person who dared to stand up to him was destroyed in a screaming death.   
  
Eventually, none challenged him, not even his own kind. He was the High Invader. That was as simple as the explanation went.  
  
No one questioned the High Invader...   
... questioned and lived anyway.  
  
---  
  
Zim drummed his black, gloved fingers upon the armrest of his chair. Through his eyes, he saw the many faces of his Irken soldiers, bustling back and forth, trying to look busy.  
Green buttons glowed in the dark of the spaceship. Various knobs of different shapes and sizes made irritating snapping noises as they were twisted right and left. The constant low mumbles of various conversations and the beeps of buttons being pushed were heard all over the station.   
The monotony of his life was hideous, there wasn't challenge to it anymore. Even the once 'Almighty' Tallest were bent against his will. So much as one glare from him would send the bravest Irken screaming and running in the other direction.   
Knobs were twisted and levers were pulled with just a gesture of his hand. Cities were destroyed with a single command. People were executed whenever he ordered it so.   
His name was everywhere, there was no person not aware of who he was. The single utterance of it made any officer shiver, and any Earthling cower.   
Yet, they were words used often in the vocabulary of both Irk and Earth people in the same sense. It was used as a curse word.  
  
'The High Invader'.  
  
Protest against him? The thought was not even dormant in the slightest crevices of anyone's mind, Irken or Human. Not that Zim knew anyway.  
Well, all but one...  
  
"Now approaching the planet Earth." came the mechanical voice of the computer. Zim turned the outside vision screen on. Earth sat, a tiny speck in the midst of the black of space.  
Yes, this was the planet. The one he had saved for last. All the other planets were conquered or destroyed easily. Most didn't even know about the Irkens, and those who did were not prepared for an armada the size of Zim's.  
Planet Earth knew of the Armada, and of it's ruler, for not only was it going to be the last, but had been the first of Zim's victories.  
He had pounded it to the ground in the Earth year 2111: destroyed all of it's cities, eliminated all leaders and forms of government, took away all order, kept only few natural resources avaliable, and then moved on, leaving Earth to wallow in what was left of their planet. He left them to think the danger was over; that they would see no more of the Irken race.  
But he had planned to return.  
For many a year, he organized his ideas on how to make the humans suffer more and more. His thoughts on this grew increasingly twisted as time went on. They gave him great pleasure in his dreams; dreams of panic, of terror, and the scent of burning human flesh.  
It was the one scent he could tolerate on the filthy planet.  
The earthlings would feel the misery which he himself had felt on their planet so long ago. The misery which they had dealt through the hands of their 'educated' scholars. They sealed their fate the moment they allowed Zim's mortal enemy to lock him in that horrible room. The moment they allowed their thick-minded 'scientists' to touch him with their soiled hands, and their stupid 'researchers' to examine him with their clouded eyes.  
But, in all this formulation of conquering notions and imagined horrors, there remained one goal fresh in his mind:  
One human would suffer ten, no, ONE HUNDRED, times more than the rest. This human was not good enough for just death, oh no, he did not deserve that. This human would feel pain. Yes: give him pain until he begged for mercy. Zim could just see the face of his enemy: twisting in agony, dirty sweat forming on his brow, nails digging into his palms.  
Zim reveled in the fancied screams of this particular member of the human race; it was the very fuel which kept him going through the dreary days.  
Seeing this human undergo such torture would be Zim's greatest victory.  
The time for revenge was near.  
  
"Run, little stink beast: scamper away, you ball of filth," Zim hissed. "I am coming for you..."  
  
---  
  
A sharp shake brought Dib from dreams of warmth and steaming cups of cocoa to the cold air of an accustomed reality.  
"Wake up Dib, it's Christmas," said his father from beside him.   
Dib turned over to lie on his back, reaching for his glasses in vain. he squinted at his father in the out-of-focus room.  
Membrane had grown weak as well. His eyes didn't radiate that sense of importance anymore. The feeling of security that Dib had always come to rely on had vanished from his figure, leaving a gaping hole in it's disappearance. His shoulders sagged; his lab coat was fraying with age and wear. He was an ordinary man now, not the once famous 'Professor Membrane'.   
Dib sat up as his father walked down the creaking stairs.  
Someone came out of Gaz's room, rubbing the sleep from their eyes. Dib's heart gave a large leap in his chest. This person was...  
Dib frantically searched the floor, as the entire world was blurry without his glasses.  
He found them near his pillow and shoved them on. Gaz's face came in to focus, with her 'what are you looking at?!' glare pointed in his direction. Her long, violet hair reached to just above her waist, and a black dress hung loosely upon her tall figure. She continued after her father down the old set of stairs.   
Dib stared at her retreating figure, crestfallen. For a moment, when she had emerged from the room, he thought he had seen his mother again.   
Gaz looked painfully like their mom. He could always see the glazed look his father got when he saw Gaz come into a room. But, like always, Professor Membrane tore the memories of his wife from his mind, as if it were a sin to think of her.  
Dib shook his head and thought himself a fool. His mother was long gone, having died giving birth to Gaz years and years ago.   
Dib stretched his arms high and yawned heavily, stalling for time, reluctant to leave his nice warm bed for the cold world outside of the covers.   
"DIB! Hurry up!" Professor Membrane agiatatedly yelled up the stairs.   
Dib sighed and yelled back. "I'M COMING!"  
He slipped out of his sheets unwillingly.  
His teeth chattered as he made his way down into the living room. A sparse evergreen sat in the farthest corner, decorated with a single short string of lights. A few candy canes hung on the branches of the tree, making them sag with the weight.  
The gifts were in old, yellowing newspaper. Pictures of smiling people peeked out from beneath the folds of the makeshift wrapping paper.  
The sounds of an arising squabble filled the room.  
Dib's father stood in the corner opposite the tree, engaged in the middle a heated argument with Gaz, who was in the opposite corner of her dad. She was only slightly shorter than Professor Membrane, and Dib already matched him in height.  
Dib snuck the rest of the way down the stairs and stood with his back near the door.   
Professor Membrane argued. "You're so irresponsible! Why, if your mother were alive-"  
"WELL, SHE'S NOT!" Gaz screamed. "I'm SICK of you always comparing me to her, as if I were some kind of clone, as if I were doing it all wrong! Well, guess what?! I'M NOT!!! I'M NOT HER! She's dead, Dad! Don't you think I miss her too?! I HATE THIS! I HATE THIS LIFE! Why'd it have to be this way?!"   
There was a long, uncomfortable silence, then Gaz's tone softened to longing whisper. "It's the year 2114, right? I'm eighteen: I could have been driving now. I know that sounds stupid, but I could have. When I think of all the things I could be doing if it weren't for what happened to this world-"  
Dib slowly shook his head back and forth, trying not to hear Gaz's words. He couldn't help but think if it was all his fault. If the entire Earth's current state of wreckage would have been helped if only he had been more careful...  
"I could have made something of myself." Gaz continued. Professor Membrane was silent; he looked down at the floor. Dib covered his ears in an effort to try and drown out her voice. She sighed. "Everyone could've. I can't help but wonder how it would've turned out, how the earth would be now. Would humanity have eaten itself up, with it's gobbling of natural resources and waste spilling? Or would it have been different, some kind of utopian society?   
"But now it's all gone, we'll never know how it could have been," Small opalescent tears that had begun to form in the corners of her eyes now trickled down her face. She paused, trying to regain her composure.  
Dib squeezed his own eyes shut. He had never seen Gaz cry before. He opened them again in realization. She was _crying_. Oh god.   
  
She took a short intake of breath and continued in a shaky voice. "It was all gone... gone from the time Zim escaped..."  
  
This was too much for Dib. He turned around and fumbled blindly for the doorknob, tears running thickly his eyes. He found it and twisted it violently. A cold rush of air came from the outside, sending a chilling breeze through the room. The christmas tree bent with the sudden wind, and a few candy canes fell.   
Dib turned once more, his ragged breath coming out from his mouth in hot puffs of steam.   
He looked at his father, old and weary, a mere shadow of the great man he had once been. He had changed so much... changed too much.  
Dib then looked at his sister. She sat, her eyes staring blankly at her hands in her lap. Her face was pale and in an unreadable expression. She too, seemed old; too old for her body. The chaos and poverty had worn her down to this. This leftover piece of what she had been eight years ago: what she was before the reign of doom Zim had cast upon the planet. Dib couldn't stand to see her. Looking at her, he couldn't even remember how she was before being this scrap of her former self.  
Were all the horrible changes because of him? Was it his fault that these people were so weak? So vulnerable? Could he have prevented this depression? This time of darkness, the downfall of the human race... was it his fault?  
Dib stepped back a few paces into the rain-filled street.   
It _was_ all his fault, it _was_ all his fault.   
He stood in his state of mixed emotions.   
Horror. Fear. Guilt.  
Gaz raised her eyes to meet Dib's.  
What he saw there, no words could describe.   
He didn't know what to do, couldn't know what to do.  
So he ran.  
He ran through all the abandoned alleyways. He ran through the wreckage of apartments; through decaying restaurants- and he had flashes. Flashes of people, gone with the light of laser weapons. People, screaming in the streets, holding bloody limbs and dead corpses. Crying, screaming, and yelling in anger, despair, and fear. Chaos all over the city. Blood. Ashes. Fire and smoke.   
Death in every corner of existence...  
  
Dib was brought back into reality, and the present, with a sharp snap as he ran straight into the locked front door of a building.   
He gritted his teeth and rubbed his head, cursing his stupidity. Then he opened his eyes and gasped at what he saw.   
This was the building. The one he had imprisoned Zim in ages and ages ago...  
  
It was an extremely ironic twist of fate. He had been trying to run away from his present, and had ran straight into his past.  
  
---  
  
"Welcome the ALMIGHTYYYYYY TALLESTSSSS!"   
A mighty roar came from the crowd. Red and Purple descended on a platform not unlike the one used for The Great Assigning. They waved and shot arrogant glances at the mass of bodies. Thick smoke filled the room, making a few of the cheering supporters stop to cough. Red smirked.  
"I told you the smoke machines were a bad idea." he said so only Purple could hear.  
"Oh, shut up." Purple said in defense.  
The hovering platform then came to the ground with a dull thud.  
"People of Irk!" Red began, raising his arms high. This small action got screams of excitement. "We are your rulers, the Almighty Tallests-"  
"_But!_" interrupted Purple. Red shot him a venomous look.   
"But lately-" he continued "-our powers have been challenged by a horrible Invader! Surely you all remember the blundering fool who has thought himself great enough to proclaim himself better than yours truly."  
"Ahem." coughed Purple.  
"Oh, and him too." Red said in monotone, jerking a single finger towards his counterpart.   
"He is currently on a mission for his own personal benefit!" said Purple. "He is attempting to conquer Earth to serve his deepest desire: to kill his own enemy! He abandoned all of you good citizens for ONE LIFEFORM! I tell you, is that fair? Taking half of the Irken military for one lousy planet?!"  
"Hey," Red cut in. "You did that once for that place you wanted to make into a huge Bed and Breakfast. I think it's called Bed-n-Breakfast-ia."   
Purple scowled at him.  
Seeing his chance, Red jumped in. "Dear friends, is this what you want? Your own leader abandoning you for another species? That is why Purple and myself wish for you to help up in our uprising against the evil, maniacal, selfish, rude, insignificant, idiotic, stupid, hypocritical, unworthy, uneducated, low, crude, unbearable, unimportant, rebellious, jester-like, foolish, intolerable, HIGH INVADER!"  
Cheers of agreement rang throughout the halls. A low chant began: "Death to the High Invader, death to the High Invader, death to the High Invader..."  
Red and Purple exchanged victorious glances as the platform which held them began to rise into the upper chamber. Yells of encouragement followed them.  
"I told you they'd buy it." said Red.   
Purple smiled in agreement. "Now the rise back into power should be a cinch."  
"Yeah, and when we get Zim, we can take Earth and change it into a giant Nacho-serving planet."  
"Hey! Curly fries are way better!"   
"Nuh-uh. Earth is a _nacho_ planet. It's just so... nacho-y looking to me."  
Purple crossed his arms and pouted. "Oh, ok, Earth can be the Nacho planet, but the next planet we conquer has to be the Curly Fry one."  
  
---  
  
A small figure wandered aimlessly down the dark abandoned alleyways, humming a soft song.   
The stranger walked back and forth in a drunken-like manner, singing the same haunting word over and over again: "Doom, doom, doom..."  
  
After many rough encounters with the side brick walls, he finally made his way from the shadow into the bright moonlight, where his features were revealed.   
It was a SIR unit. His eyes were a light turquoise, his body a light gray. Tightly clutched in his left hand was a dirty and heavily worn rubber pig.  
"Where's Master?" he sniffled. Small tears were in his eyes, threatening to drop with every blink. He wiped them away with his free hand, hiccuping with the effort of retaining sobs.   
"Where'd you go? Why'd you leave? Why'd you have to change?! I miss you so much... why'd you leave me?!   
  
... why...?"  
  
---  
  
to be continued... (please review)  



	2. scheming

A/N: Hello again! Is anyone actually reading this? Do people actually read the author's notes? I do, but I was wondering if the average person does...   
  
Thanks to EVERYONE for reviewing my story! I REALLY REALLY REALLY appreciate it! You have no idea how much your feedback means to me (yes, even if they are stinky flames). Also, thanks to Guardian Diesel (on ff.net: Diesel) for the help with the idea for how Zim's drink should look (^^) and to Amethyst Soul for beta reading this (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU multiplied by the highest number you can think of). As I said, these chapters will now be shorter than the first, for my sanity's sake... I can't put out long chapters with my schedule.   
  
If I get enough reviews, I may write a prequel... oo, that'd be fun!  
  
Now, on with chapter two!!  
  
---  
  
Dib sat near the door of the gray building, hugging his legs to his chest. God, it was cold. From under the overhang he could see the rain coming down in thick sheets. His stomach grumbled in protest from lack of food, but he ignored its complaining. The lone boy buried his face further into his knees and closed his eyes, trying desperately to fall asleep. He didn't need this now; what he did need was the alleviating state of unconcsiousness. His head throbbed from where he had hit it on the door. Images of the past still raced around his mind, the building in which he was under simply a part of them. This place held both good and bad memories: it had been the location of some of his greatest triumphs, and the location of his most horrible defeat- Zim's escape. This concrete construction could be marked as the birth of the new era... this era of terror and destruction upon which the High Invader reigned.   
A clank of metal on the pavement made Dib sit upright in alarm. He strained to hear the foreign sound.   
Clank-clank-clank.  
The noise grew louder with each beat. Dib stood, preparing himself for an attacker. He identified the sound as coming from behind the right wall and tensed.  
A small head with huge eyes poked out from the side of the building.   
"HI!" it yelled in happiness. Dib stood, bewildered. The robot came under the overhang and shook the water off itself like a dog. It dropped the rubber pig it had been carrying and pounced upon Dib, hugging him in glee.   
"Aw, I love you!" it purred, nestling it's head in Dib's chest. Dib sat once more, unsure as of what to do. He blinked a few times and awkwardly patted the machine's head. It hopped away from him and did a strange little dance, looking eerily familiar. He watched the strange creature's movements, pondering it's origins. It seemed intelligent; intelligent enough to move around on it's own, and it didn't appear to be controlled by anything...  
"Master always say to 'obey da fist', hee hee!" it giggled, prancing around like a horse. It picked up its pig and began tossing it around. "You!" it said, pointing to the pig. "Obey da fist!"  
Dib's eyes opened wide at this all too familiar phrase. He approached the bouncing lifeform cautiously from behind. This robot could only be- "Gir...?" he asked quietly.   
"Yeeeees?" Gir responded. Dib froze in astonishment. Gir smiled. "Aw, whassa matter, Dib? You look like the Scary Monkey when he's scared." Reminded of this, Gir bounced happily up and down. "Ooo, the Scary Monkey! Can I see the Scary Monkey?"   
Dib shook his head.   
"Please?" Gir added.  
Dib shook his head again.   
"Awww." said Gir, then continued to bounce. Dib knelt down to the ground and put a hand on the SIR unit's small shoulder. Gir stopped moving, then turned. "What is it, Dib-human?"  
He paused, then spoke slowly. "Where is Zim?"   
Gir cocked his head to the side and thought. "Oh, you mean Master?"  
"Yes, your Master."  
A silence came over the both of them. Gir's joyful mood faded with each passing second. "Master? Master is gone..."  
Dib's shoulders sagged in disappointment.   
"Master left," Gir continued in a solemn tone. "Master went home without me. Does he hate me?"   
Gir sniffled. Dib looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. I can't answer that."   
He suddenly hugged Dib's leg for comfort. "You'll be my Master now, right?" Gir innocently looked into his eyes. Dib didn't see any way he could refuse.  
"Okay," said Dib, smiling. "I guess I'm 'Master' now."  
  
---  
  
A blue-eyed Irken maid briskly walked down the metal corridor with a tray in hand. On it lay two pills and a clear glass of thick liquid- a purple substance with black swirls, spinning around the container as if it were alive.   
She made her way to a door and knocked softly, straightening her uniform, steadying the tray, and putting on her brightest smile.  
The young female waited a minute, then, upon hearing no answer, knocked once more. Another minute passed and no response came. Her antennae stiffened in annoyance as she glared at the door, moving towards the number keypad and punching the code in. The double-doors automatically slid into the walls, revealing the High Invader sitting on a chair, facing the window. The navy-eyed maid smiled once more and spoke. "Sir, where would you like this?"  
He didn't answer, but continued staring out the window, his ruby eyes reflecting the stars outside.  
"Sir?" she asked.   
"Huh?" he grunted, turning towards her. She desperately tried to look her prettiest: fluttering her eyelashes, blushing, twirling her antennae with a finger, and giggling girlishly.  
"Oh, yeah... just put it over there." he said, lazily gesturing towards the corner or the room and turning to the window again. She frowned and put the tray upon the table. "Would you like anything else, Sir?"  
No answer came.  
"_Would you like anything else, Sir?_" she repeated, not used to being ignored.  
"Leave me be!" he responded sharply, motioning for her to leave.  
She harrumphed and walked out of the room, head held high in the air. The doors closing quickly behind her. Zim sighed, rolled his eyes, and continued to stare out into the void.   
The maid ran down the hallway towards the kitchen. She burst through the entrance and stomped towards her mother.   
"All those Soldiers were right!" she yelled shrilly. "The High Invader is a rude Irken and is a disgrace to our kind! He should be executed immediately!"  
Her mother's cyan eyes smiled at the daughter. "Meh! Just five minutes ago you were spouting love poems about his beautiful face and wonderful personality! What happened, dear?"  
"_He_ happened, that's what!" Meh pouted, unaware of her mother's mocking statements. "I'm GLAD the Rebellion has started. That meanie old High Invader can kiss my squeedily spooch!"  
Her mother inhaled deeply and let her breath out slowly. "With his ways, I'm surprised the rebellion hadn't happened a long time ago..."  
---  
  
"Come on, Red, lay off!"  
"Ahahahaha! I got you now!"  
"You know I'm not as good as you at this stuff!"  
"You shall feel my wrath, Purple!"  
"You're mean!"  
"Die die die!"  
"Gah!"  
"Heh heh, I'm winning!"  
"STOP!! It hurts!"  
"I WILL NOT STOP!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"  
"Get off me!"  
"You are my slave!"  
"NO!!!!"  
"YES!!!!!"  
The words 'Game Over' flashed on the monitor. Underneath the bright letters read 'Red 10 wins - Purple 0 wins'. Purple threw down his video game controller in frustration. "ARGH! I'll never win!"  
Red sat back sipped some lemonade through a straw. The glass held a small pink paper umbrella at the top. "Ah, you're right about that one. I am the master of all video games!" he said, raising the arm with the glass into the air.  
Purple stuck out his lower lip. "No fair, You-"   
His accusation was cut short by the flat voice of the computer: "Incoming transmission from warship JV-737.". The two Tallests immediately stopped bickering to stare intently at the message screen. The face of a young Irken appeared, his eyes shining with excitement. He bowed too deeply and hit his head to the floor. The magenta-eyed male rubbed his skull and flushed with embarassment. "Many a good cycle, my Tallests," he recited the formal greeting. "Soldier Seb, of JV-737, ship of the Highest Invader, at your service, Sirs. You two look very well, Sirs. Very well. Have you grown taller, Sirs? All living must tremble in your shadows, Sirs. You are most forboding, Sirs. I am humbled in your presence, Sirs. Allow me to-"  
"Shut up already and report, Soldier Seb!" spat Red.   
Seb winced at the sudden outburst, then regained his composure. "A-hem," he cleared his throat and began. "You shall be pleased, Sirs. The rebellion has been successful so far, Sirs. Rumors are spreading like a plague in a crowded city, Sirs. The High Invader is also unaware, Sirs. It has been most pleasing, Sirs. Most pleasing. The High Invader sits in his room with no idea as to what goes on past the walls of his quarters, Sirs. You-"  
"How long, Soldier Seb? How long until the High Invader is overthrown?" interrupted Purple. "We need a time estimate so the builders can get ready to construct Nacho-ia."  
"Well," Seb continued. "It is almost impossible to give a time estimate, Sirs. Such things are so unpredictable, Sirs. So many factors, Sirs. Different things could go wrong, Sirs. Different things could go right, Sirs. A time estimate is almost impossible at this time the the operation, Sirs. Most impossible. I cannot answer that question, Sirs."  
Red gritted his teeth. "How... much... TIME?!"  
Seb cowered, then spoke quickly. "Um... after we reach the planet Earth. Once the High Invader has captured this rival he so seeks, he will be distracted. By then, I will have the whole JV-737's crew ready to go against him. We can leave him on Earth. It is a wasteland now, he will not be able to get off of it once we depart."   
"But then we can't have Nacho-ia because ZIM will be there!" complained Red.  
"Don't worry," comforted Purple. "The next one can be Nacho-ia, I saw another planet that looked just like Earth!"  
"Really?"  
"Really."  
"Good," sighed Red "I didn't want to have to fight a full scale war against Zim, it's all just so time consuming!"  
"PLUS we'd lose half of our army in the process. It's better if they just come over willingly. That equals less problems." added Purple. "That will be all, Soldier Seb."   
"Yes, Sirs. It has been a pleasure to converse with you, Sirs." Seb bowed, hitting his head on the floor again. The screen went blank.   
Red blinked. "Remind me why that guy's such a high-ranking soldier again?"  
"I don't know, maybe he was switched at birth on accident." responded Purple.  
"We should make a policy against that."  
"Like what?"  
"Maybe the... 'No-Switching-At-Birth-On-Accident' policy?"  
"Sounds good, we should call a meeting with the 'Society of Rules and Regulations' about that."  
"Is Thursday okay?"  
"NO! That's my loofa rub day!"  
"You and your loofas..."  
"You and your nachos!"  
"You and your curly fries!"  
"You and your- um..."  
"Ha! I win!"  
"I hate you."  
  
---  
  
Zim stared out of the dome-shaped window at the planet before him. The mass of blue and white swirled in strange patterns. Earth was quite a beautiful place from far away, but once you got close it was disgusting. It reeked of human stench and waste. Ugly half destroyed buildings cluttered the skylines and smog dirtied the air. The clouds were white from the viewpoint in space, but were gray when on the surface. It was such a convincing illusion from above... an illusion of pleasant patterns and colors... but illusions were, in reality, only that: a cruel deception, a misleading image.   
Zim sighed and turned to face his quarters. Unlike the Tallests, he did not desire fancy royal splendors. He favored large spaces, and his living areas showed that. So much power, and yet, all there was to do was waste it on constructing planets like 'Hotel-ia' and whatnot. His whole existence was one big mass of bowing heads and wiggling antennae. Everyone knew who he was; they would kill masses to be in a position of a mere half of his power. Yet, he was not satisfied. What point was there in having such strength, then sitting around, using it for nothing? It was _boring_.  
His eyes wandered to the far corner of his room. There sat the tray the maid had left. He got out of his chair and moved towards it, dreading the effect of the disgustingly thick purple and black drink. He took the two red pills and put them in his mouth, holding them there until he could get the glass to his lips. He poured the liquid in, clamping his mouth shut and gulping down hardly. The pills slipped down easily, but the drink did not. It crawled slowly down his throat, burning all the tissue and muscle as it went. Zim's Irken equilvalent of a stomach rebelled at the thought of the searing liquid in itself and his passages tried to force it out into the open again. Zim doubled over, resisting the urge to scream and stubbornly kept his mouth closed. He clutched his chest in pain, sharp gloved fingertips digging into his flesh, trying to force the liquid down.   
Finally, the burning subsided and it all slid into his body.  
Zim collapsed onto the floor, his eyes wide with a blank stare.   
No sound could be heard.   
His body lay, unmoving. His chest did not rise and fall with the steady rhythm it should have. The whirring of the ship's motors quietly vibrated through the walls.  
Then, the silence was broken by Zim's sudden gasp for breath. He clenched his eyes shut and wheezed heavily, inhaling the glorious air in huge gulps.  
Every day this was the struggle. Yet, it was necessary. It was necessary if he wanted to break the dreary repetition of every day of his life.  
This wasn't just about the medicine: it was about what the medicine could do.  
  
Zim curled up into a fetal position, having finally regained his breath. He opened his eyes to find himself facing the large window once more. The Earth drew closer and closer.   
"Sir!" the doors slid open noisily to reveal a soldier. The magenta-eyed male eyed Zim, still lying on the floor, then continued. "We will reach planet Earth shortly, Sir. I would advise that you ready yourself for the occasion, Sir. Are there any preparations you would like made, Sir?"   
"Yes," Zim said grabbing hold of the table edge and slowly getting to his feet. "I would like you to prepare the special torture room for one inhabitant. I think it will finally get some use."  
"Yes, Sir," said the soldier, giving Zim a wary look. "Would you like anything else to be done, Sir?"  
"No, that will be all."  
"Good day, Sir." he said, excusing himself. He turned and walked out.   
The Earth now took up the entire window view.  
And for the first time since leaving it, Zim smiled.  
  
---  
  
"Okay, I guess I'm 'Master' now."   
"YAY!" yelled Gir, letting go of Dib's leg and jumping around in circles. "I gotsa new Master!" He giggled and pranced around some more. Dib's mood lightened as he watched the robot do various imitations of animals. The rain had lifted, but the clouds remained. Gir hopped out from under the overhead, down the concrete stairs, and out into the puddles of mud. He splashed in them, yelling out a song about 'Mr. Moose and Mr. Piggy'. As he was belting it out in opera style, a large drop of water plunked onto his head with a resounding 'bong'. The robot stopped singing and squinted into the gray sky above. "Master?"  
"Yes?" Dib responded automatically.  
"No, not Dib Master. _Master_ Master." he said, pointing up into the clouds. Dib followed Gir's hand. A large group of purple, pink, and gray voot-runners flanked one large ship which stood in the shape of a upright shark fin.  
"Oh god..." said Dib. "Oh no, jeezus, no..."  
Gir stood, eyes fixed on the sky. "Master is back? Master came back to get me?"  
As the fleet came closer, the markings on the large ship became evident: the Irken symbol of war.  
Dib was struck dumb in disbelief. All these years he had dreamed of seeking revenge... but the object of revenge had found him.   
Gir now looked at the ground, torn between jumping up and down for joy and crying in sadness. Master was back, but what about Dib Master? Did he have to pick one? Could he have two Masters? Was having two Masters okay? Did anyone else have two masters?  
While Gir pondered these 'important' questions, the fleet came closer. The 'shark fin' ship led the way, looking as natural in the air as a shark would in deep water. It also looked like a shark would feel in a school of huge tasty fish.   
The foreign aircraft crawled towards the Earth's surface in an almost march. A buzzing sound from the ships engines made the ground rumble beneath Dib's feet.  
Suddenly, the lead ship stopped. In a chain reaction, the smaller aircrafts halted as well, until they all hovered like a swarm of bees waiting to attack. Dib expected huge lazer guns to pop out and shoot down the entire planet, but, to his relief, many moments passed and the Earth still remained intact. In fact, he was so busy staring dumbfoundedly at the sky that he didn't notice the small transport vehicle ejecting from the cargo bay of the 'shark fin'. It quietly scooted out of Dib's sight.   
Gir finally decided to do some combination of his two choices. He squealed happily, making Dib take his gaze from the fleet to watch him. He then pounded the ground with his fists, crying huge tears, yelling: "WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!".  
Dib scratched his head in question. Had this sudden arrival reminded Gir of his old life, causing him to short circuit? Or was the machine always this spontaneous?  
Gir stopped bouncing up and down in joy as he looked past Dib. His eyes grew wide and lit up in happiness. "MASTER!"  
Before Dib could turn, all he saw was blackness.  
  
---  
  
Master just shot Dib Master with a metal thingie in his hand. It went ZAP and Dib Master fell asleep. I wonder why Dib Master fell asleep? Was he sleepy? Well, Master laughed (Master laughs funny, hee hee!) and told his friends to 'TAKE HIM AWAY!'. Master is also scary when he yells. I don't like Master when he yells. Master looks funny: Master looks bigger. Or am I smaller? Or is Master bigger now? I think Master is taller. Yeah, that's it. Dib Master got dragged away by Master's friends into a little mousey-colored ship. Master went into the little ship. I am on the ship too 'cause I followed them. I am sneaky, hee hee! This is a fun game, like 'following the leader' 'cept sneakier!   
Now the ship is all rumbly and bumpy. I am hiding in a brown box 'cause I don't think I'm supposed to be in here. I don't want to be yelled at, I don't want Master to get angry at me and leave again. That wasn't very fun.  
Oh, the ship stopped bumping around. I heard lotsa footsteps and voices.   
Ooo, Master just said to take Dib Master to the torture room 666. I have to remember that. 666. 666. 666. 656. 654. Um, no! I mean 666. Yes, Dib Master is in torture room 666. What's a torture room? I don't know. Torture room 666. Will Master be there too?   
I don't hear any more sounds. I am going to try to sneak out now and find torture room 666.   
Hee hee, I am being sneaky again.  
  
---  
  
to be continued... (please review)  
  
  



	3. screaming

A/N: Hi! Chapter three is here! Torturin' and talkin': two attributes of a future fic. Myep, that's basically what this chapter is. I'm not really proud of this part, but read it anyway, it's important. If you hate this chapter, DON'T LEAVE MEEEEEEE! The next chapter will be much better (I hope...)!  
  
A humongous, hearty, deep-bellied, weird-accented (think fat drunk pirate) 'THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' to Amethyst Soul, my beta reader, for editing this piece o' poopy.   
Also thanks go to illusions2525 for letting me use Corra's name n' appearances.  
  
My estimation is that there will be one or two more chapters after this, depending on how the story works itself out. Don't worry, I'll tell you when it's the last chapter, and you'd probably be smart enough to figure it out anyway.   
  
Oooh yeeeah, DeadLegato, in your review you hit all the points that would be covered in a prequel to this fic (if I decide to make one).  
  
Oh yeah, someone told me that I should give partial credit to 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (the novel.). It had NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER on this fanfic, but people might *think* it does... so... yeah. So here's the partial credit to 'To Kill a Mockingbird' even though it's nothing like it and I don't want flamers or bashers, but they're basically the same thing and I think I will put a period now 'cause this is turning into a run-on sentence and we don't want this 'cause it's baaaaad ^^.  
  
I like ellipsies... (see?!)  
  
Read and review!!!!!!  
  
---  
  
Dib groggily opened his eyes, then immediately closed them again, regretting his body's decision to come back into conciousness. His head hurt badly, and the brightly lit room wasn't helping either. He was strapped to a silver metal table, thick cuffs at his wrists, ankles, and neck. Seeing these restraints, he panicked. "What the?! What happened?! Where am I?!"  
"Such typical questions. You were always one for questions, huh, Dib?" a voice came from Dib's right. He turned to find Zim standing beside him, smiling evilly.  
"OH, SHIT!" Dib yelled in surprise.  
Zim shook his head from side to side in disapproval. "Tut tut tut, watch your language! Especially that word, seeing as that's what your filthy planet seems to be made of."  
Dib gulped and stared at his rival. "You've... gotten taller?"  
Zim's features twisted into a demented and pleased grin. "Yes, I must admit, I _have_ grown quite a bit since our last encounter, that would be, oh... about three... three and half... four years ago, sometime in that range? You're nineteen now, right? Yes, that seems correct." He leaned closer to Dib. "You see, I've had a little... help along the way. I've been taking some things that are similar to your human 'steroids'. It's a relatively new medicine, known only to myself and a few select others: a purple-ish black-ish liquid and two pills. Together, they are called 'Rellat'.  
The pills are easy to conquer, they just take one gulp. Oh, but the drink is a whole different story. It goes down, eventually. But before it does, it succeeds in burning a hole in the passages of my body. Imagine sticking a match in your lungs to let it burn and swallowing chunks of sharp broken glass at the same time. Every. Single. Day.   
Luckily, Irkens heal extremely quickly, so I only have to go about a minute without air."  
"But why would you do a thing like that?!" Dib asked, amazed as to the insanity of such an act.   
Zim blinked at him as if he were stupid. "Why, it makes me taller!" he said, making an extravagant gesture with his hand. "To command a certain respect in Irken society you must be tall." He put a hand to his mouth in fake surprise. "Uh-oh, I've just told you a valuable secret of my government, haven't I? Ah, never mind, It doesn't matter... you wont live to tell it to your filthy kinsmen, or what's left of them anyway. I'm almost as tall as the Almighty Tallests now; it wont be long until they will be but a pebble in my shoe, as the Earth saying goes."   
Dib's mouth dropped open in shock. Zim chuckled. "I must admit that you've grown too. You're quite tall, for an Earthing. If you were Irken, I might even find you attractive," he paused. "But there are a few things, besides our species, that stand in the way, aren't there? There's the rivalry, for one, our excruciating history together, and the fact that you used me as a guinea pig of sorts... wow, that's a lot of reasons! Big ones too."  
"Stop being sarcastic." said Dib, recovering from his initial shock.  
"WHY?!" Zim yelled. Dib recoiled in fear. "WHY SHOULD I?! After all that torturing: being poked and prodded, my every organ's movement recorded, my brain waves examined, hundreds of wires and devices for experimentation stuck mercilessly into my body, staring staring staring eyes, countless scientists in white lab coats, autopsy tables, the cutting of my flesh, endless hours of electric shocks over and over and over again, scars everywhere... UNIMAGINABLE PAIN! Why should I listen to you? It was YOUR FAULT!" he took a deep breath to calm himself.  
"...,"  
"No response? No quick-tounged, sharp-witted answer? Smart. You are in no position to be giving orders to me. You're the one on the recieving end of the torture device this time, Dib," Zim massaged his chin thoughtfully. "I guess I really _should_ thank you. After all, your stupid actions led to my current position of authority. Basically, I can control all Irkens now... and most of the universe at that. So I don't think a stinkbeast like you really deserves my thanks."  
Dib gaped at Zim, his horror stricken face paler than usual. Beads of sweat had begun to form on his brow. Zim, seeing Dib's expression, laughed maniacally. "Oh, dear dear Dib. Are you frightened? Are you scared now that you're going to have to take the pain this time? You're not used to getting the shocks, huh? You were used to giving them! All lifeforms deserve to feel whatever they dish out."   
Zim pulled a small black remote with a single red button from a drawer. He paused, then pressed it.  
BZT! A small wave of electricity was sent through Dib's body causing him to yelp in pain.   
Zim put on a exaggerated look of sadness. "Oh, poor baby, did that hurt? Too bad it was only the first!"  
"Stop, Master!" a voice rang out from the dark of the doorway. A petite figure stood in the half-shadow. Zim's finger stopped a centimeter above the remote. His eyes widened in shock. "Gir...?"  
"Stop, Master!" Gir repeated. "You're hurting him, Master! STOP!"  
Zim's grin spread wide across his face. "That's my exact point, old friend." He pushed the button down harder.  
BZZZT!  
Dib yelped once more.  
"Stop!"  
BZZZZT!  
Dib gave a high-pitched scream.  
"STOP!"  
BZZZZZT!  
His eyes rolled up into his head, leaving only the vein-decorated whites to be seen.  
"NO, STOP!"  
BZZZZZZT!  
There was no response from the still body.  
  
"Please stop, Master..." Gir sniffled. "Please..."  
  
---  
  
"Please stop! Stop, Dib!" A young female scientist stared at her colleague in shock. "You'll kill him if you continue...,"  
A fifteen year old Dib smiled and pushed the red-colored button again, sending another shock through Zim's body, causing him to pull against his constrainments in agony. (Author's note to stupid people: this is a flashback).   
"I'm only testing his ability to endure pain, Corra." Dib said in an innocent voice.  
Corra's green eyes narrowed. "I don't believe you. Don't take this revenge thing too far, killing the specimen is not a wise choice. It's not like we have a whole roomful of Irkens to experiment on."  
"Yeah, yeah." said Dib rudely. Corra sighed and turned her sight towards to monitors that tracked the various organs of the alien's body. She pointed to one of the screens. "Here, this one, its beating is irregular."  
Dib turned to look at where her finger was pointing. The green line went up and down in mountainous jagged spikes, showing no recognizable pattern.   
"It's not normal," said Corra, the worry lines creasing on her forehead. "What if it dies? What'll happen then?"  
Dib shrugged. "I don't care. I'm not worried about him dying."   
There was a long pause.   
"It'd be much easier if we actually knew the names of these organs..." Dib sighed, trying to break the uncomfortable feeling that had formed. "It's impossible just saying 'this one' and 'that one'. I can't remember which screen is which!"  
Corra raised an eyebrow. "So what do you suggest we do? Just name them as we feel like it?"   
"I could always ask Zim."  
"The specimen hasn't shown any intention of cooperating so far, what makes you think it'll tell us its organs' names?" Corra said, shaking her head.  
Dib frowned in thought, staring through the one-way glass. Zim glared back, hissing. Seeing this, Corra shuddered. "God, it's freaky. He can't see you, but it's like he knows you're there."  
There was a silence in which the two young scientists watched the prisoner. Dib's glasses reflected the light and Corra's shoulder-length, auburn hair fell across her shoulder as they simultaneously moved closer to the glass.  
Zim bit savagely at his restraints and yelled muffled curses. He struggled against the metal cuffs which held him to the table, his body flailing back and forth, resembling a fish out of water.  
"It's amazing it still tries to get out..." Corra speculated.  
There was another awkward silence.   
"Go home, it's late." Dib said suddenly, keeping his eyes on the alien's desperate attempts to escape.  
"But you can't shut down the entire station by yourself, Dib! It'd take forever!" she protested, crossing her arms.   
He smiled, putting one hand to her soft cheek and stroking gently. "I'll be fine. There's just some unfinished business I need to take care of. Go, Corra. Get some sleep."  
She relaxed and put her hands down to her sides again. The young lady picked her purse up, walked down the hallway and opened the glass door, sending one last look of gratitude to Dib before leaving the building.  
Dib turned to face the containment chamber again, squinted into the brightly lit room, and then turned a small knob. Zim blinked a few times as the lights dimmed, his eyes adjusting to the sudden change. A knob rattled. Zim jerked his head towards the sound, straining to see the door. Dib emerged.   
"What do you want, filthy human?!" Zim spat in anger. Dib showed no reaction. He merely strolled casually over to his prisoner's side, hands stuffed into his trenchcoat pockets, whistling the tune to 'X-Files'.   
"What do you want?!" Zim repeated. Dib merely gave him a small smirk.  
Enfuriated, Zim spoke again. " 'Go, Corra. Get some sleep.' " he imitated in a high pitched voice. "You have feelings for this girl, no?"  
Dib's eye twitched. "How did you hear?"   
"You and your inferior equipment," Zim taunted. "You left that stupid 'intercom' thing on and I could hear every word."  
"Aren't you scared of me?" said Dib quietly, moving closer to Zim's side.  
"Why should I be?"  
"Oh, I don't know, maybe it's because... I have complete control over you?"  
"No you don't."  
"Ha!" Dib laughed derisively. "And I thought you were smart! Look who's on the torture table! Look who's been cut open, countless times! Look who's cuffed now! I've _WON_!"  
Zim stayed silent, his expression defiant.  
"You look so small lying there. I must be at least three times your size." Dib said, as if trying to change the subject. Zim bared his teeth. Dib smiled at the reaction and continued. "You look just like a baby, Zim! I remember the day you first came here, to Earth: March thirtieth, 2106. You haven't changed a bit since then. You're. Still. SHORT!"  
At these last words, Zim spat in Dib's face. The raven-haired boy grimaced and struggled to keep his temper as he wiped the acidic liquid away with the back of his sleeve. He walked towards the exit, boots clicking against the metal ground, then stopped at the doorway.  
"Just like a baby," he repeated, more to himself than to Zim. "You always wanted to know about Earth, right? I might as well humor you a bit," he stopped to think. "Ah, I know: there's a little rhyme human parents sing to their babies... my mom even said it to me...   
...but I'll just repeat it to you as the captor to the captured."  
Zim closed his eyes. He wasn't going to give up to the stinkbeast. He wouldn't give in to the human mind games. He would win the war against Dib. It wasn't over yet. He _would_ win...  
Dib began softly.   
  
"Hush little baby...,"  
  
It wouldn't end in this damn room. Zim wouldn't allow it. He wouldn't die at the hands of the enemy. He would sooner kill himself than to expire in such a humiliating manner. No, it wasn't about serving the Tallests anymore. From this moment on, the fight was for himself.  
  
"Don't say a word,"  
  
He planned to escape. Nothing would stop him. Nothing! He would leave the planet and gain power! Yes, power was the key. The key to everything. Anything could be had with power, if in the right hands. And once he had it, Dib would pay...  
  
"Momma's gonna buy you a mockingbird..."  
  
Escape. Gain freedom. Gain power. Gain pride. Gain revenge...  
  
"And if that mockingbird don't sing-" Dib smirked, then proceeded to speak again. "A caged mockingbird never sings. They're trapped. Singing represents their will to live. Capture a mockingbird and you break it's spirit..."  
Dib scratched his chin in thought.  
"It is, in a sense, dead. With no spirit, how can one try anymore? There is no point in going on. For it to sing would be a miracle. It requires a strong will to sing, once trapped."  
Zim grimaced. Dib put his hand on the doorknob. "If it can manage this, only then does it stand a chance of freedom once more," he paused for effect. "You are that bird, Zim. And you'll never be free again. I'll make sure of that."  
  
---  
  
"Master! Stop hurting Dib! Stop!" Gir pleaded.   
Zim shut his eyes and shook his head roughly, bringing himself into the present. (Author's note to stupid people: this is not the flashback anymore).  
"Shut up! SHUT UP! Leave me alone! You have no idea what he's done to me!" he yelled pointing to Dib, then turning his glare back upon his old SIR unit. "You have no idea what I've been through! NO IDEA! I'm not hurting him nearly as much as he hurt me! You don't know what 'hurt' is, Gir! YOU DON'T KNOW! YOU COULDN'T KNOW!"   
Gir froze, shocked and speechless. Tears welled up in his eyes and he ran out of the room.   
Zim gave a small noise of dismissal, then turned back to the prisoner, his blood-red eyes examining him. Dib was unconscious, hand hanging limply off the side of the table and mouth slightly open.  
Zim put a sharp fingertip to they boy's left cheek. He hestiated, then dug it deep into Dib's flesh and dragged it upwards, his finger scraping the cheekbone as it went. It resulted in a long, deep cut from the chin to the eye. Blood seeped out of the gaping hole and ran down the pale face; the red of the face muscles lay exposed under the bright light of the torture room.  
Zim appeared to think for a while, then spoke. "Never mind. I wont put you through any more of what I endured." he said to Dib's unhearing form. "Even _you_ don't deserve that. No one does... no matter what they've done. I guess you're lucky again, eh Dib? You always seem to escape. Maybe you will... even this time..."   
Zim walked out of the room and turned off the lights, leaving the door open behind him.  
  
---  
  
Why did Master get so mean? I know what 'hurt' is. It's when it hurts! I've hurt before, but I don't know if it's the kind of hurt Master was talking about. Why was Master hurting Dib Master? That's not very nice. Dib Master was screaming really loud and then he stopped and fell asleep again. Dib Master must be very sleepy 'cause he keeps falling asleep.   
I don't think Master is supposed to hurt Dib Master like he did. I don't think it should be that way. I hope he doesn't do it again.   
I can help Dib Master! I can get him away from Master so Master can think about what he did! Like giving Master a time-out, hee hee. I don't like time-out, Master made me sit in a corner for time-out a loooooooooooooooooooong time ago when I made cupcakes and put chocolate and chocolate frosting all over the house. Chocolate is yummy!  
Master just walked by, but he didn't see me. His eyes looked sad. Master is sad now? Master's mood changes toooooooooo much. Maybe he needs medicine? Master was happy and laughing funny, then he was mad, and now he's sad? Master is weird.  
Ooo, now I can go save Dib Master. I hope Master doesn't get mad at me for saving Dib Master.   
Oh no, now I have to find Torture room 666 again!   
I think it way that way! No, or was it this way? Which way?  
Aw, poop!  
  
---  
  
"Dib Master? Wake uuuuuuup!"  
Dib groaned. Had it all been one big nightmare? He prayed that it had, then opened his eyes. Gir's face came into focus.  
"HI!" he waved happily from atop Dib's chest. Dib instinctively tried to jump up in alarm, unsuccessfully for he was still bound to the torture table. He took a sharp intake of breath in pain.   
"Aw, Dib Master is hurt! Bananas can make it better." comforted Gir, now standing up. Dib blinked a few times, then cocked his head to one side. "Gir?"   
"Yes?"  
"Can you get me off of this table? I mean, can you take these cuffs off or something? It's extremely uncomfortable...,"  
Gir giggled. "Of course, Dib Master! That's what I came for. I came to free you and make Master think about what he did like a time out 'cause he did baaaaad hurty things and Master needs to think about it 'cause it's not good to make people hurt like that 'cause it's rude and baaaaaad!" he said very quickly. Dib's mouth dropped open in astonishment at this sudden show of somewhat intelligent behavior.   
Gir stuck his tounge out and began to bang on his head. "Ding-dong the witch is dead!"  
Dib closed his mouth and rolled his eyes. "Okay. Start with the cuffs."  
"Okie dokie!" Gir agreed, then hopped off of Dib's body onto the metal surface. He walked, stiff-kneed, to Dib's right wrist, closed his eyes in concentration, and produced a small laser weapon from his head. Attached to an arm, it came out and touched its end to the cuff, slowly cutting though the thick metal. Dib smiled as the red laser moved to his left hand, his right foot, his left foot, and then, lastly, his neck.   
When the final constraint was cut all the way through, Gir began to clap his hands enthusiastically. "Yay! It's done!"  
Dib sat up, rubbed his sore joints, and rolled his head from side to side. He was just beginning to put his feet on the floor when he heard the sound of voices coming closer. "Yeah! That High Invader really has it coming to him!"  
Dib stiffened in alarm. "Gir!" he hissed. "Hide!"   
Gir's cyan-colored sections turned bright red as he saluted. "Yes, my Master!" He then proceeded to crawl under the torture table.  
Dib lay back down, closing his eyes and remaining perfectly still.  
The voices continued. "With the way the rebellion is spreading, he'll be gone before you know it!" an Irken with rose-colored eyes said in an amused tone.  
"I heard that they're leaving him on Earth and Seb is taking over for this fleet 'til we can get back to Militaria." said another Irken, this one with deep pink eyes.  
"What?! Seb?!"  
"I know, that was my reaction. If Seb is in charge-"   
"YLOH TIHS!" yelled one of the passerbys.  
"What?!" said the other, giving a small jump of fright. "What is it?!"  
"There," he pointed to Dib. "Look at that alien! Did the High Invader do that to him?"  
The other smiled grimly. "Yep, probably, it looks like something he'd do. That's what'll happen to _us_ if we don't get him out of the Tallests' way soon."  
The Irken gulped. "Let's leave. I don't want to be around when the High Invader gets back."  
"Right with ya pal."  
Both scurried off, footsteps resounding through the hallway. Dib sat up, confused. Did he look that bad? He touched his hand to his left cheek and brought it away to find a crimson liquid: blood.  
Dib's eyes narrowed in anger as he glared at his red-stained hand. Zim would pay for what he had done. Dib would hunt him down and capture him again, even if it meant spending his entire life trying.   
Gir crawled out from under the table and looked at the large wound on Dib's face. "Does Dib Master want a band-aid?"  
"No," he said in a serious tone. "We have to leave now, do you understand? If we don't leave now... something bad will happen."   
"Master will do another bad thing to you?"  
"To me _and_ to you. Let's go."  
"OKIE DOKE!" yelled Gir. "FIELD TRIP!!!!!"  
"Shhhh!" reprimanded Dib, putting a finger to his lips. "We need to be quiet! Don't make a sound."  
Gir slapped both hands across his mouth and nodded earnestly. They both went out of the room, sneaking silently across the floor. Dib looked around nervously, expecting Zim to come popping out from behind a corner any second. He shuddered at the thought. Gir pulled on Dib's pant leg, causing him to jump convulsively.   
"Gir! What are you doing?!" he hissed, putting his hand to his chest in an attempt to calm down his heart. Gir pointed towards a elevator-like contraption located down the right corridor. Dib exhaled and relaxed, patting the robot's head. "Good work. If anything, that'll be the way out."  
Gir's face glowed and his chest swelled up with pride as he marched directly behind 'Dib Master' into the elevator. He had been praised!  
The room was tall: the walls were ten feet high and every inch of them were covered in buttons of different shades of color. The ground space, however, was that of a normally sized Earthen elevator. Dib stood in amazement, looking at the rainbow of colors before him. Gir imitated Dib's stance. "Ooooo, there're a bazillion of them!"  
Dib laughed. "No, I don't think so."  
"Aww, I thought there _were_ a bazillion...," Gir said disappointedly. They stared at the gargantuan elevator in awe. Each button was labeled with a single black character in the Irken language. Needless to say, Dib couldn't understand a single one. He looked at Gir. "Do you know what these letters say?"  
Gir looked at Dib quizzically. "Huh? You mean these little black thingies? Well, that one is a square with a hole in da middle, and the other one is a triangle with a dent in da side, and this one looks kinda like a moose...,"  
The sliding doors to the elevator shut with a loud bang.  
Dib glared at the endless array of colorful buttons, then blew a strand of hair off of his face in annoyance. "Damn, we're in real trouble now..."  
  
  
---  
  
to be continued... (please review)  
  
  



	4. leaving

A/N: Hello!   
I think this is gonna be the second to the last chapter, not sure yet, it depends how I decide to end it (yes, I STILL haven't decided on an ending).  
  
ARGH! I've forgotten the disclaimer for the whole thing! Ok, here it is (although I don't really see the point of disclamiers 'cause people aren't gonna come to ff.net and sue every single fanfiction writer): Invader Zim does not belong to me. The end.   
  
I am a sneaky piggy. The dirty chicken has a seeeeeecret (actually, it's my secret. forget the dirty chicken): all the weird words that you can't understand that the Irkens have been saying are actual human words, but backwards. Maybe that clears things up... if you didn't figure it out already.  
  
As usual, MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY (I'll shut up now) THANKS go to Amethyst Soul, my beta, and all those who reviewed. I am your humble servant! I will... er... exist to write the last chapter! You are pleased, yes? I COMMAND YOU TO BE PLEASED!  
  
Someone now told me to give credit it 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'. I should've picked a different subject. Well, this story is not about a girl getting raped, and I take a much more negative approach on the bird (I say it doesn't sing, 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' is about it singing) so I think it's safe to say that it's nothing like 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'. Ok? Got it? Good.  
  
Dios, I write long Author's Notes.  
  
---  
  
"Damn, we're in real trouble now..."  
Gir giggled and stepped closer to Dib. "Don't worry, Master."  
Dib jerked in surprise. Gir hadn't said 'Dib Master'; it was 'Master' now...  
"Ooo!" said Gir, interrupting Dib's speculations. "What's this thing do?!" He pushed the pastel yellow button in front of him. Dib's eyes widened upon further inspection of the object: it was circular, with a black symbol shaped like a gun printed on it.  
"Look! It's so bright 'n' shiny!" Gir pointed to the walls, turning around and around to see the amazing spectacle.  
All the buttons flashed their outward color, creating bright neon patterns around the room. Swirls, squares, triangles, circles, squiggles... virtually every design and shape imaginable formed in the flickering lights. As this took place, various beeps served as notes for a highly annoying tune that played over and over again, fitting the exact rotation of the shapes.  
Dib looked down and rubbed his eyes in irritation at the sudden changes between the colors and pictures. Gir squealed happily and clapped his hands together. "They look like fireworks!"  
BEEP.  
Flash.  
BEEP.  
Flash.  
BEEP.  
Flash.  
BEEP-  
When the last note of the song struck, the room went pitch black.   
The low buzz of silence was all that could be heard.  
A series of words, through the light of the buttons, appeared in the darkness of the room on the wall opposite the door: SOLDIER, PREPARE TO REPORT FOR DUTY.  
Dib had hardly enough time to open his mouth before the elevator shot upwards. His ears popped with the sudden change of velocity and he felt as if he were being pushed into the ground. Gir grinned, laid flat, and put his arms into the air, roller coaster style.  
The world gave a sudden jolt and a loud bang! as they came to a stop. The double-doors slid into the walls to reveal a large group of Irken soldiers. Dib froze as the hundreds of alien stares bore into his skull.  
"Hey, isn't that the guy the High Invader was after?" said one of them, breaking the tense air.  
"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" agreed another. Simultaneously, their red eyes narrowed. It would have been comical, had the situation not been such a dire matter.  
Dib hit the button that he hoped would close the door.  
"Look! It's a monkey wrench!" said Gir. He hopped out and to the right, chasing after what looked like a large, blue spider.   
"NO!" yelled Dib. "Stay here Gir!"  
"Let's get da pale alien weirdo creature!" shouted one soldier.   
"Lay eggs in his stomach!" said another.  
"Crush his gargantuan head!"   
"We can use him for target practice!"  
The elevator doors released large amounts of purple smoke and began to shut in an agonizingly slow manner.  
"Gir, come back!" Dib pleaded, squinting through the billowing smokescreen.   
"Let's give him to the scientists to experiment on!"  
"How about a nice round of 'torture session'?"  
A black gloved hand reached through the small crack left in the doorway, cutting through the lavender fog, searching for its victim. Then, the door shut.   
"ARGH!"   
Dib heard the owner scream as the arm was clamped down upon. The hand spastically jerked this way and that, the fingers wriggling like worms on a hook. With a sickening crack, light green blood began to slowly ooze from the arm as the doors squeezed even harder.   
Dib grimaced and turned to the other wall. "Escape pods, escape pods, where are the escape pods?!" he muttered to himself, searching the buttons for one that would lead him to a possible way home.   
BAM! The metal was dented inwards as the soldiers on the outside tried to force their way in. The hand now limply hung, lifeless, though the same could not be said for its owner, who was still shrilly screaming on the other side.  
"Argh, which one?!" He had narrowed it down to two choices, both next to each other. It was between these: a trianglar or circular aircraft?  
"Let us in, you big-headed... er... thingiemabob!" a soldier yelled stupidly, voice muffled by the thick wall before him.   
Dib held his breath, closed his eyes, and pushed a button.   
The elevator went dark once more and began to whirr loudly.   
He opened his eyes, only to see: he had missed both buttons entirely. Instead, the one that remained lit was three away from his primary choices. It held a symbol that resembled a human exclamation point.  
The lights on the wall now read: PREPARE TO ENTER ESCAPE POD STATION.  
Dib stared, open-mouthed, at the bright words of good fortune.   
What luck he had...  
  
---  
  
The monkey wrench blue spider thing is funny! I keep almost touching it, then it runs away again! Hee hee! It looks kinda fuzzy too, like the cotton candy at the fair with the piggies and the goats!   
Doo dee doo dee doo...  
Hey, where did Master go? He was in the lighty flashy room thing with me, and now he's gone. After the monkey wrench thing came, I heard him calling my name. Was I supposed to go to him? Was I? Did he want me to go with him?   
I know he wanted me... otherwise he wouldn'tve called me, right? Old Master didn't call for me when he left, but he's gone too. Master wants me, I know it! He called my name! HE CALLED MY NAME!  
Master wants me... right? Yeah. Think I'm sure.  
  
... alone again.   
  
This time... alone 'cause it was my fault.  
  
---  
  
"SOLDIER SEB!"  
The sharp crack of a whip reverberated across the room.  
Seb fell to his knees, hands placed flat on the ground, arms shaking to support his upper body. His hook-like antennae quivered and his magenta eyes brimmed with tears as he looked up to the face of his delieverer of pain. Zim's fiery eyes glared back. Seb flinched and looked to the floor once more.  
Thousands of other Irkens stood, backs straight, eyes focused straight across the room. Their arms were at their sides, slightly crooked at the elbow, and their hands were balled into tight fists. Each's stance was a replica of the one beside it, as if they were all made from the same mold. The only differences were slight: various head shapes and shades of red for eyes. All their facial expressions were identical: determined and set with firm gravity.  
"Soldier Seb, what did I tell you?" Zim said, his voice in a weirdly misplaced, calm tone.  
Seb began to draw circles with his fingertip onto the floor. "Y-you s-said-" he stuttered. "Y-you s-said to, um, stand straight with my head up high, Sir?"  
"Is that a question or a statement?"  
"Statement, Sir?"  
CRACK! The whip snapped upon Seb's back again. He gave a pitiful wail of pain.  
"Fool!" Zim hissed. "Can you not answer a simple question?"  
"Y-yes, Sir?"   
CRACK!  
"Y-yes, Sir."  
Zim smiled. "Ah, now we have some slight progress." He began to pace back and forth in front of Seb, right hand with the whip behind his back, left hand scratching his chin in thought. "Although, for you, I believe it is a huge progress. Gargantuan. Probably the most recognizable thing you will ever do in your life: answering as a statement and not as a question." He sneered. "One as low as yourself cannot understand one of my position. This is true, yes?"  
"Yes, Sir?"  
CRACK!  
"ARGH! I mean: yes, Sir."  
"That's better."  
CRACK!  
Seb screamed and put a hand to his back, trying to calm the stinging opening the whip had left on his back. The wound could be seen, even through his hand was attempting cover it. The muscles contracted, spewing more blood into the air. Neon green flesh was decorated with turquoise veins.  
Zim turned to face the rest of the soldiers, making his voice loud enough to project across the room. "Do you see this weakling?! He is an example of who you should not be! Answering everything in a question is equal to questioning my authority! And questioning my authority is not an option while I'm still in power!"  
CRACK!  
"ARGGGH!"  
Seb lay on the ground. Light green blood, colored the same as the gaping hole in his back, began to seep through his uniform.  
"This is the one-winged bee of our efficient hive!"  
CRACK!  
"This is the offspring of a weak mother!"  
CRACK!  
"This is a horrible excuse for a sentinent being!"  
CRACK!  
"This is who you don't want to be!"  
CRACK!  
"This is who you must avoid!"  
CRACK!  
"This is who you must never become!"  
CRACK!  
"Stop! STOP!" Seb pleaded.   
Zim halted, his hand in mid-swing; the whip dangling back and forth in the air. He smiled maliciously. "What did you say? I'm not sure I heard you quite right."  
Seb quivered and looked at his fellow soldiers for help. Getting no reaction, he sat up, looked at his gloves and whispered. "Stop, Sir?"  
CRACK!  
"FOOL! Did I not say earlier to answer as a statement?! Try again!"  
"S- stop, Sir?"  
CRACK!  
"Imbecile! 'Stop?' is a question! Are you QUESTIONING me? Such a thing is treason!"  
CRACK!  
"ARGH!"  
CRACK!  
"NO!"  
CRACK!   
CRACK!   
CRACK!  
CRACK!  
"STOP!"  
With these words, Seb collapsed from his sitting position to his knees again, panting and staring at the small imperfections in the metal floor. He coughed, and bright green blood came, splattering underneath him. He choked on it, coughing even more to get the burning liquid out of his throat.   
Zim towered above Seb, twice his height, arms crossed victoriously. He bent down and whispered in Seb's ear. "That's better. Maybe, just maybe, next time you'll think to get it right. No one questions the High Invader... if they wish to live."  
He walked down the row of soldiers. Frozen in their positions, none moved as he passed.  
Seb stood up feebly, knees shaking. His uniform was wet and stained; his boots were dotted with green.  
Zim's figure grew smaller and smaller as he walked to the exit.   
Seb wiped his face with the back of his glove. He stared at it, then licked it, running his tongue along the smooth leather surface, cleaning every crevice. He stopped, savoring the metallic taste of his own blood, licking his teeth, then grinning. "One day, I will taste _your_ blood...," Seb gave an exaggerated bow to Zim's retreating form. " ...o' _High_ Invader."  
  
---  
  
The lights on the wall now read: PREPARE TO ENTER ESCAPE POD STATION.  
Dib stared, openmouthed, at the bright words of good fortune.   
He had missed both buttons of choice and had ended up pushing the right one! Wiping his forehead, he collapsed against the door in relief as the elevator began to slowly descend, contrary to the fast ascent he and Gir had made earlier. Reminded of this, he thought of the little robot.  
Gir was gone now... there was nothing he could do. Maybe, if he was lucky, Gir would find a new, even better, Master than he. One who wouldn't leave him on a ship of the enemy...  
Dib shook his head. No, it wasn't his fault. He was regressing back into the state of depression that had caused him to run from his home the night before. Always blaming everything on himself... but who else did he have to blame anyway? Zim couldn't be the excuse anymore...  
"APPROACHING ESCAPE POD STATION." said the mechanical voice of the elevator. Dib smiled, throwing his dark thoughts aside. This time, he would win. He would get Gir back. Once he had captured Zim, he would find Gir and protect humanity from the alien threat!   
The old fire came back into his eyes, finally re-ignited after being killed by the dust of the attack on the Earth three years ago. That would lead to Zim's downfall: the power of his will and the strength of his decisions! Dib was sure of it!  
In his now optimistic state, a plan rushed into his head. He would go back home in an escape pod. He would capture Zim. And after that... well, he would worry about 'after that' when it came.  
The doors slid open. Dib cautiously peeked out from behind them and, seeing no one in the room, he snuck out and hid behind a large wheel, surveying his surroundings. No guards appeared to be on duty: the whole hangar was empty! He couldn't believe his luck once more. Crawling out from behind the wheel, Dib looked out the large window and saw his home planet, sitting there in its great beauty and radiance. He stared at it with a glazed look in his eyes. This was what he had been fighting for, the very thing which fueled his existence, his will to live. He wouldn't let it go easily.  
The scythe-haired boy climbed into the gray aircraft closest to him and started the engine. He put on a helmet and adjusted the strap beneath his chin, taking a deep breath to calm his jittery nerves.   
As he put his shaking hands on the steering wheel, he whispered reassuringly to himself. "I'm coming home."  
  
---  
  
"WHY HASN'T HE REPORTED IN YET?!" yelled Purple, pacing back and forth in front of the transmission screen, brow furrowed in a combination of exasperation and agitation.  
"Don't worry," assured Red, sprawled out, belly down, on a large orange couch, reading a magazine entitled 'EDUN IRKENS!'. He put his claws to a plate of nachos, took one, and began to chew on it contentedly.  
" 'Don't worry'?!" Purple repeated in shock. " 'DON'T WORRY'?!?! How can you even say that?! Our entire FUTURE as leaders of the Irken race depend on one weak soldier and you say 'Don't worry'?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!"  
Red chuckled. "Heh, you're cute when you're all aggravated like that."  
Purple's mouth dropped open, struck speechless. Red continued reading his magazine.   
"You... you... wha-" Purple was interrupted by the computer.  
"Incoming transmission from warship JV-737."  
"Many a good cycle, my Tallests. Soldier Seb of the warship JV-737 reporting, Sirs."  
Purple turned to face the screen, face contorted in fury. "YOU! Where were you?!"  
Seb winced and rubbed his wounded back, which the Tallests couldn't see from their point of view. "I'd rather not speak of it, Sirs."  
Red stopped reading, then sat up. "Alright, alright. We 'won't speak of it'. Just tell us what's going on."  
"I have a team ready, Sirs. We will catch the High Invader unaware, Sirs. It will happen soon, Sirs. It will not be long for you to wait, Sirs. It will not be difficult, Sirs. My helpers are most reliable, Sirs. Most reliable. If you give me permission to run the ship after the High Invader is disposed of, Sirs, I can bring you the fleet back, Sirs. I will try-"  
Seb cut himself short as Red held up a single claw. "Need I tell you to 'shut up', or can you do it yourself?"  
Seb nodded. "Yes, Sir. I am quite capable of doing it myself, Sir."  
"Good." Red grabbed another cheese drowned nacho.  
"We grant you control over the crew of the JV-737, ship of the High Invader," said Purple. Seb's face lit up.   
"BUT!" the Tallest added. "Only until you can reach Militaria, do you understand?"  
Seb nodded, eyes bright with happiness. "Oh, yes Sirs! I am most excited, Sirs! Most excited! You will be most pleased with me, Sirs! Most pleased! You will be the highest powers very soon, Sirs! You can count on me, Sirs! I will work to the best of my ability, Sirs! I am your most humble servant, Sirs! Most humble! I-"  
Red held a claw up, and Seb shut his mouth quickly.  
"You are dismissed, Soldier." said Purple, rubbing his temples to fight off an oncoming headache.  
Seb saluted, hitting his hand to his forehead with a little too much gusto. He rubbed the area where he had hurt himself. "Ow... I mean: Yes Sirs! This is Soldier Seb, signing off!"  
The screen flickered, went black, then retracted into a storage area on the wall. Purple slumped onto the couch next to Red. "I feel a huge migrane creeping up on me...," he groaned, massaging his temples once more.  
"Why'd you let _Seb_ be in charge?!" Red asked, head cocked in questioning.  
"Simple," Purple began to explain, putting a hand on his forehead and closing his eyes. "Number one: there's really no one else to be in charge 'til they get back. Number two: what harm can an Irken like him do?"  
Red grinned. "Good point: he's a total pushover."  
Purple sighed. "Yeah, that's about right."  
There was a pause in which the maid could be heard vacumming the outside corridor.  
Red reached over and began to massage Purple's antennae. They pricked, then relaxed in pleasure. "Does that help the headache?"  
His mouth curved upwards. "Yeah, a little."  
"You're cute when you smile like that."  
Purple's eyes snapped open. "WHAT?!"  
"You heard what I said." Red advanced upon his fellow Tallest. Purple jumped off the couch, eyes wide.  
"Heh, you cannot resist!" Red chuckled.  
"No, no, NO!"  
"YES!"  
"No, leave me alone!"  
"Come here, Purple, I NEED to DO something with you...,"  
"ARGH! I won't! GET AWAY!"  
"C'mon, only a few times couldn't hurt...,"  
"I wont submit to you! You can't get me to do that... that... horrible thing!"  
"Eh heh heh. You know you want to."  
"No! I despise doing that! You always force me to! You... forcer-kind-of-person!"  
"Aw, you know you like it! Just come do this one little thing... it wont take long!"  
"NO! I REFUSE TO DO THAT WITH YOU! NO! Maybe with someone else, but not with you!"  
"YES! You will do it! There is no refusing the power of-" Red paused and grinned devillishly.   
"-VIDEO GAMES!"  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"  
  
---  
  
Zim watched the small escape pod make its way towards Earth through his large window. He put his palms against each other, then entwined his fingers, raising his hands up to his chin. So Dib _had_ escaped.   
Maybe Zim had underestimated him...  
"Sir!" a tall, tough-looking, Irken burst in. "We have just recieved word from the weapons department that your alien has escaped from the torture chamber! Also, a vehicle has been reported missing from the Escape Pod Station!"  
"Fool," Zim hissed, putting his arms on the rests of his chair. "Do you think I am blind?! Look out the window!"  
The muscle-bound soldier did so, and then turned a very pale shade of green. "Sir, I-"  
"SILENCE!" Zim commanded. "Leave! Leave at once!"  
The commandee scrambled out of the room as fast as his bulging legs would carry him.  
Zim glared at Dib's vehicle, which was now preparing to land. "How did you escape?" he muttered. "How did you get out...?" He shook his head and sank into a deep mode of contemplation.  
"Hello, High Invader." Zim's thoughts were interrupted once again by another intruder. He gave a small noise of exasperation and turned from the window. "What do you want?!" His eyes widened, then narrowed, as he saw the figures before him. "Seb."  
Seb's grin spread from antenna to antenna. He was flanked by a dozen burly soldiers, each armed with several laser guns. "Yes, it's me," he stated, smile growing wider with each word. "Aw, are you scared, poor little Zimmy? Are you scared that the 'pitiful', 'little' Seb is going to be your bringer of doom?"  
Zim blinked, then gave a mocking laugh. "No, no, I'm not really scared. Ok, I admit that you did surprise me a bit. But no one could actually BE as stupid and weak as you were acting. I suppose I should have been on guard... ah, a careless mistake on my part. I can't believe I let myself be so naive...,"  
Seb's eyes reduced to slits. He took a sharp, barbed, whip from one of his minions. "Why are you just waving me off as if I were some annoying, buzzing, little fly? I am no fly. You cannot simply brush me away. I am much harder to get rid of than that." With this, Seb lashed out at Zim's face. Zim cried out in pain and fell from his chair as the sharp thorns of the whips hit their marks. Deep cuts had shredded Zim's uniform and pierced the skin; a long jagged gash ran from his chin to directly below his left eye. Thick, neon green blood began to ooze out in generous amounts. He put a hand to the wound in attempt to stop the bloodflow, staring at the ground, wide-eyed in shock.   
Seb laughed. "Ha! Now you'll have a scar just where you gave one to that 'human' creature! How ironic..."   
"Do you know what _I _think is ironic?" Zim said quietly. "I think it's ironic that I actually miss you speaking in questions with 'Sir' at the end every single time... when I used to think it was intolerably annoying."  
Seb tightened his grip on the whip, bringing it back in contact with his enemy over and over again. Zim's body was jerked around by the weapon as if he were a vulnerable doll clenched in a running child's filthy hand.  
Seb stopped, advanced, and bent down beside Zim. "I heard you speaking to your alien. You talked about how he never had to take the pain he gave you..." Seb wrenched Zim's hand away from his face and grabbed his head, forcing Zim to face him. "You talked about how 'all lifeforms deserve to feel what they dish out', or something along those lines." Seb brought his enemy's face even closer to his own and continued. "You hypocrite," he whispered angrily. "The way you put it... that means that you should be whipped until you cough up blood too, yes?"  
He stopped talking as Zim shot him a glare.  
Seb's followers stood perfectly still, replicas of each other in, not only their expressions, but in their build and features as well.  
"That reminds me..." Seb said, looking at his soldiers. He turned back and put his tounge to Zim's cheek, still holding his head firmly in his grasp, then licked the blood off hungrily. He worked it into the deep laceration he had inflicted, cleaning it of the blood, running it along the exposed flesh and over the veins. Zim winced as Seb's violating tounge touched his open face muscles. He pushed him away with all his strength.  
Seb merely licked his lips, stood up, and smiled. "Ah, that's much better. Much better. You see, after you whipped me earlier today, I made myself a little promise: to taste your blood, instead of mine. I'd say I've fulfilled that promise, don't you think so?" he ran his tounge over his lips again, his smile turning into a wide grin. "The taste of revenge is not sweet, as is commonly thought. It is actually a taste... quite metallic. You'll have to believe me, because I don't think you'll ever experience that taste; that of revenge. Not against me anyhow."  
Zim got slowly to his feet, knees and arms shaking.  
"You'll never win," Zim retalliated, almost spitting with rage. "As clichéd as it may sound, like some Earthling 'movie', you won't. You only have your measly twelve soldiers. I have the rest. How can you even think you have a chance?!"  
"Ha!" Seb snorted. "You think this it the extent of my power! Do you think I am stupid? Headstrong?! You underestimate me then. There are many who hate you, despise even. They would sooner join me. Also: I have the Almighty Tallests' consent to take control of this fleet."  
Zim's mouth dropped open, and his anger vanished. "H- how in the universe did you manage that?"  
Seb grinned. "Bad choice of last words, _Sir_. SHOOT HIM!"  
The flash of the laser beams filled the room with a brilliant shade of pink, temporarily blinding all who occupied it. This pink turned to red, blue, purple, then black. An ear-splitting whine emitted from the combined weapons, going up and down in tone, as a tea kettle would on the stove.  
After a few moments of this chaos, Seb took his hand away from his eyes to see his enemy, curled up and unconscious on the cold metal floor, eyes shut tightly. Blood trickled out from his slightly open mouth.  
"Send a transport down to Earth, quickly!" Seb ordered, a plan forming in his mind. "Send it down with a soldier for the High Invader's little Earthanoid friend to find him... I think the human would be so generous as to 'take care' of little Zim for us, yes? Maybe he can play with Zim's mind. Or what's left of it anyway." He turned to look out the window, and smiled. "If he doesn't know he's doing us the favor, that is."  
  
---  
  
The escape pod's engine spluttered in annoyance. It moved jerkily forward as Dib took his hand on and off a pad which seemed to be the accelarator. His head snapped back and forth with the sudden bursts of speed and abrupt stops. So far he had only gone about half of the way towards Earth from the main ship, traveling in this slow manner. His teeth rattled in his head as he spoke. "S-s-stupid a-a-alien t-t-transport-s-s!"  
The entire ship bounced as Dib headed toward the gray, abandoned building which he had sheltered himself under only a few hours before. He fought the urge to retch all over himself.  
"O-o-o-h g-g-od, d-d-don't l-l-et m-me d-die, I s-still h-h-have t-to w-win o-o-over Z-z-zim!"  
He bent over to throw up on the floor of the aircraft and, in doing so, rested his hand on the accelerator.   
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Dib screamed in surprise. He was pushed against the back of the seat just before he could relieve his stomach of its contents and too petrified to realize that he should've taken his hand off of the accelerator. The ship sped ahead quickly, scattering fragments of rock as it went.  
"YEARGH!" he exclaimed. The Earth was drawing nearer and nearer at a rapid pace, too rapid for Dib.   
The browns, greens, blues, and whites of the world filled Dib's entire line of vision, and the continent of North America was just visible under the heavy rain clouds that hung above it.  
Seeing this, Dib regained his senses enough to start steering the aircraft with the joystick beside him, although why he did not take his hand off the accelerator while doing this, cannot be said.   
The transport raced towards the ground at an amazing speed, pummeling birds out of the air and splattering insects against the windshield.   
Dib's eyes widened as a large, run-down building came into view. A mechanical voice emitted from the speakers of the small ship: "Five seconds to impact." it stated in monotone.  
"Four."  
Dib ducked under the dashboard.  
"Three."  
The whirring engines grew louder.  
"Two."  
Dib clenched his eyes shut.  
"One..."  
  
BOOM! The entire world seemed to shake as the collision occured. The ship was wedged tightly into the wall, half inside, half out. Pieces of concrete the size of small asteroids fell from the ceiling, leaving naked wires from where they came.  
Pushing aside the debris, Dib emerged from the heap, coughing the dust out of his lungs. He checked himself over for injuries, running his hands along his legs, midsection, arms, then face. He stopped at his left cheek. The wound Zim had made, which had just begun to heal, was now freshly opened. In vain, he pressed his hand against it in attempt to stop the stinging. For, as you see, it was 'in vain' because the stinging was not physical, but mental. It wasn't a stinging of betrayal, slow and bovine. It wasn't that of loss, hitting in small attacks and coming back again. It wasn't even that of shock, a low buzz in the back of your head. This stinging was loud and reverbarant, vibrating in the very walls of Dib's mind. It bounced back and forth, touching every crevice of the brain, then moving down to the rest of his body, spreading its influence and taking over, like some horrible, fast-acting, form of cancer. It was a disease which conquered the entire being. A bacteria which infested so many, and led them to their dooms. The stinging, the buzzing, the infectuous feeling of revenge.   
Destroy Zim, the being which made his life so miserable. Annihilate him. Rip at his body until the flesh was gone, leaving muscle and organs for decay to eat away at until only the sun-bleached, grinning skull remained with the rest of the age yellowed bones.   
But before the kill... suffering. It was not optional. Make him suffer like no other had. Lock him up, let him starve, let him cry out and pound at the walls of his prison. Torture him. Send shocks into him ten times as strong as the ones Dib himself had experienced.  
His enemy's countenance swirled around and around in his mind, jeering, laughing at him, hurting him, expression set in one of permanent cockiness.   
At this, the flames of rage, which had only tickled him before, enveloped Dib. He took his hand away from his face, and grinned.  
Yes, revenge was what he wanted. And once someone is infected with this fatal virus...   
... there is no stopping them.  
  
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to be continued... (please review)  
  
  
  
  



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